Sophomore biology teacher, Mr.Traub, graduated from Oakland University with an undergraduate degree in Biology and Chemistry. Afterwards, he received his graduate degree in Teaching, also from Oakland University. Currently Mr. Traub balances his time teaching at UAIS in the morning and Malow Junior High in the afternoons.

Interviewer: Choose a quote that best describes your high school/college life and explain why you chose it.

Mr. Traub: It’s not easy, but it’s simple.  – Eric Thomas

Life has challenges along the way that are not easy, but if you focus on the most important things like family then you can handle any situation thrown your way.  It may have taken me longer to figure this out then some, but I have learned over the years what the important things in life are.

Interviewer: If you could go back in time, would you go back to high school days or college days?

Mr. Traub: I would say high school, probably to explore other opportunities outside of academics and sports.

Interviewer: What was your friend group like in high school?

Mr. Traub: I would say [I was] surrounded by people that played sports.

Interviewer: How did it change when in college?

Mr. Traub: Stayed similar.

Interviewer: Share with me how the following experiences were either similar or different.

Homecoming and/or prom

Mr. Traub: Homecoming was at school, [while] prom was a set hall and/or banquet. The difference is the amount of people. I went to a big school and we had a couple opportunities to bring other people. Homecoming had more participation [because it was] cheaper.

Pep rallies/ Olympics

Mr. Traub: We had pep rallies around three times a year. We did not do Olympics.

Games: Powderpuff

Mr. Traub: We had powderpuff and we had the occasional, student and staff basketball game. I [also] had football and baseball in high school.

Interviewer: If you job in high school, what was it?

Mr. Traub: [During] one summer, I worked at restaurants.

Interviewer: If you had a job in college, what was it?

Mr. Traub: I worked at an accounting firm/collection agency.

Interviewer: What extracurricular activities did you participate in during high school? Did you continue this onto college?

Mr. Traub: [I participated in] football and baseball. Through college a little bit of baseball, that [eventually] turned into baseball. I also coach[ed] baseball through college.

Interviewer: If you had an opportunity to study at an IB school during high school would you or would you not attend? Why or why not?

Mr. Traub: Possibly. I guess for me, I would [attend] if it was similar to [my high school experience]. If I had the opportunity to interact with sports [and] still compete in athletics. The benefits would be to broaden the spectrum. Refer to first question.

Interviewer: What profession would you choose if you were not a teacher?

Mr. Traub: Possibly, I would have went into nursing [and/or] medical field because of my degree in bio. [However], I did also started as engineer.

Interviewer: What made you want to be a teacher and how was the process of becoming one?

Mr. Traub: I think I started to become a teacher after coaching. Then, I enjoyed biology and chemistry [as well as] interact[ing] with kids.

Interviewer: What do you enjoy most about teaching?

Mr. Traub: Interactions with students, building relationships. Seeing them become successful.

Interviewer: What do you find most challenging about teaching?

Mr. Traub: Making the subject enjoyable for all students.

Interviewer: What was your inspiration to pursue biology?

Mr. Traub: I would say I always enjoyed bio in high school and college. All the professors in college were more biology than chemistry and that influenced me.

Interviewer: What was your most memorable moment in UAIS?

Mr. Traub: The first project I assigned. Seeing all the ways, students were able to present the material. Whether [it was] through songs, presentations [and/or] classroom discussions.

Interviewer: What was one failure that you learned something?

Mr. Traub: I would say the format of assessing students. Finding different ways to assess students on tests and quizzes [is difficult]

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